bearshop88

Treasure hunting at my favorite thrift store a few days ago resulted in this find, a 1960s copy of  Children's Cross-Stitch & Applique Designs book by Butterick.  Although the cross-stitch patterns are delightful and would be cute on your current creations, the illustrations are pretty monochromatic and didn't scan well.  So today's focus is on the appliqué patterns printed in the book as well as some shopping links for the vintage patterns. No doubt these patterns can be found elsewhere but today I looked primarily at Etsy since I just love this marketplace!  The three shops who are currently carrying these patterns are not affiliated with me in any way, they just happen to be carrying these particular patterns currently. The sewing and appliqué patterns: Butterick 9917 I found this adorable pattern  here  at Old Soul Vintage on Etsy. The appliqué pattern for Butterick 9917 Butterick 9352 I found several of this pattern avai...

Mining my vintage craft and sewing pattern book collection resulted in this neat smocking tutorial find.  This wonderful tutorial explains how to prepare your fabric for smocking without the need of a smocking pleater or iron on transfers. In addition, there is an explanation of how to modify your pattern for smocking  and a diagram of several smocking stitches.  Loads of information in just a few short pages! Nice information on how to modify your pattern to allow for smocked gathers: How to create the gathers using your sewing machine: Information and diagram of a few smocking stitches: I love the can do attitude of this author.  She shows you how to tackle a project that looks complicated by breaking it down into manageable steps using tools you already have on hand.  The result?  An adorable little girl's dress.  And these techniques could be used on any article of clothing -- a special accent on a blouse  or on a lovely nightgown  f...

These patterns for a doll dress, slip and panties are from the same vintage World War II pattern books that I was perusing yesterday.  The beauty of these patterns is that they're adaptable to any size doll.   Like yesterday's apron patterns, having previous sewing experience will be helpful and necessary in drafting and sewing these doll garments. A Dress to Fit Any Doll The instructions for the doll dress: "To make a yoke pattern for a doll's dress, cut two squares of paper as deep and as wide as one quarter of the doll's chest measure plus 1/2 inch.  Divide these pieces into squares as in Diagram 1 and 2 [see below].  Now, draw the yoke outline to cross the squares as shown.  The center front at A, and the center back at B, should be placed on a fold. "For the sleeve pattern, cut paper as deep as the yoke and twice as wide as the measurement around the top of the doll's arm.  Draw the triangle guide in Diagram 3 [see below], centering the top point and ...